I Went Dance-Walking!

Better than walking or running – it’s dance-walking! Saturday night a group of 70 people (plus a live band) gathered in San Diego for a dance-walk. We spent two hours dancing down the sidewalks of North Park with the band playing everything from “I Feel Good” to “When the Saints Coming Marching In”.

We passed swanky restaurants and laundromats, joyfully shaking it, waving and cheering. Everywhere we went, people lit up in joy. Many people broke into dance when they saw us and high-fived us as we passed.

We busted loose at intersections as drivers beeped, waved and gawked at our twirling, whirling pandemonium. We danced on the benches, swung ourselves around the poles and went wild like a pack of kids high on cotton candy.

We shamelessly frolicked, cavorted and tripped the light fantastic for a half dozen officers. One stopped, watched us a bit, then began doing his own little dance in his police car.

Around 9:00 pm, we hit a string of residential homes. As we came upon the first house, we noticed that a family had come outside; smiling and dancing along with us. At the next house, a little boy with his parents were standing at the door, smiling and watching us. At the next, a man was already joyfully shaking it on his front lawn by the time we got to him.

The music was infectious and so was our dancing spirits. We got people out of their houses, onto their front lawns, laughing, shimmying and shaking their bodies.

Even though I am a dancer and therefore, usually very mindful about how I am moving my body, this was the first time I can recall truly going wild – randomly kicking, jumping, spinning, flailing my arms – I was totally unrestricted, uncensored, free as a drunken sailor. My goal was to move my body. Whether anything I did made sense or looked good did not matter to me. That sense of unbridled freedom was exhilarating.

I believe we are meant to retain the child-like spirit that allows us to not care what others think while we let our hearts burst open with wanton freedom. Life is supposed to be fun and filled with playtime.

That night, 70 of us had the time of our lives. We planted the seeds of inspiration. We shifted the energy. You want life to be fun? Go out and actively participate in life. Without caring what others think.

Reporter Ben Aaron with the original dance-walker (who started it all)